Reincarnation
by flojotopia
Summary: Colin just wants to die, but Bradley, an attractive figment of his imagination, won't let him. He keeps on being saved by a blond man whom no one sees. Then, he finds out why. Warnings for mentions of suicide, minor character death, Merlin and Arthur being called Colin and Bradley for part of the fic. Just a short fic-let. Enjoy :)


A/N: Another fic-let that I wrote a few months ago and never got around to posting. Enjoy :D

A/N: Warnings in description

* * *

He stood, body shaking wildly. This is what it felt like to finally let go; to finally be free.

Colin stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon, feeling the warm breeze thread through his unruly black hair and breathing in the rushing roar of the Colorado River, far beneath his feet.

Yes, he decided as his bare toes gripped the cliff, this was better than anything he'd ever felt. Because, now, for the first time in his short life, Colin felt alive. Of course, it would be the last time, too.

The young man took a final, deep breath of the soothing nature and opened his piercing blue eyes for the last time and fell.

He fell and fell and fell, almost flying as the world sped up around him and his limbs relaxed into a state of pure bliss.

He was finally dying. Colin was finally dying, and he'd never been happier, knowing the outcome of his actions.

His friends would forget about him; his parents, already dead.

Life would continue on an Earth that Colin knew would be better now that he would cease to exist upon it.

Unfortunately, Destiny had other plans.

Strong arms wrapped themselves around Colin's waist and he was jerked roughly back up the same path he had fallen, yanked by an unseen force of power.

He should have known. Bradley would not let him go. No matter how many times Colin tried to disappear, this man was always there, saving his worthless life, and then leaving again, never to be seen until Colin's next attempt at death.

It was almost enough to make Colin want to keep trying to die, just to feel those invisible arms holding him, saving him, making him feel loved.

The first time Bradley had appeared, Colin had overdosed on sleeping pills, and so he assumed the blond haired beauty was a figment of his imagination; especially after his mother stared at him as though he was mentally impaired when he mentioned the other man's unwanted assistance.

Then, a few months later, Colin tried to hang himself with some of his late father's old ties, only to lose consciousness with the thought of _finally_ but waking up in the morning feeling as though he'd slept for days and seeing the ties arranged in a neat pile he could never manage with his lack of organisational skills. And, of course, Bradley, sitting next to the bed, was glancing down at Colin's awakened form with such untold sadness and love. It was that night Colin learned his savior's name. After seeing Bradley's reassuring form next to his bed, Colin had fallen asleep again, and, when he'd woken up, his angel was gone, replaced only by a single white envelope. Inside the envelope was a small note on the purest of white's paper:

_Colin-_

_I know this must be hard for you to understand, but I love you._

_Please stop trying to leave me, because, one day, I will come back to you, but I need you to be there with me._

_-Bradley xxx_

At first, Colin wondered if it was a cruel joke, but his mother made no mention of the blond boy, Bradley, ever having been there or her knowledge of the attempted suicide, so Colin knew Bradley was real, if only just slightly outside his own head.

Then, his mother had died. A battle with cancer had taken her life and Colin was left with unimaginable emptiness.

So, he stood at the ledge of the Grand Canyon, where his mother and father, both stripped from the world so violently, had first met, and tried to die. But that cursed Bradley wouldn't let him.

'Please Colin,' the man spoke. 'Please.'

'Who are you?' Colin croaked. Why was it so hard to just die?

'I am your past. I am your future. I am your other half and this was the life we were meant to be able to spend together. But, Destiny messed up. I was born too soon and died too young, and it can't be redone.'

Colin was speechless. What was this man talking about?

'I am your Arthur and you are my Merlin and our fate was never fulfilled. But, we continued to live and die over and over again in worlds so different from this, our paths never crossing. Destiny promised me we'd be together for this lifetime, but she messed up. She is only young. Old as time itself, but with still so much to foretell. So, she made me an agreement. I had to save you from yourself, I had to prove my undying love, and then my body could reunite with my soul and I could reunite myself with you and _please_ Merlin. I love you.'

Odd flashes of the nightmares which once plagued Colin's mind came back to life. Nightmares of lands in distant places and times. Nightmares of magic and fear of his life and power beyond that of any mortal man. It was him. Him and his King.

'Arthur,' Merlin gasped, grinning wildly for the first time in 2000 years.

'Merlin.'


End file.
